Fuel cells produce electricity from chemical reactions. The chemical reactions typically react a fuel, such as hydrogen, and air/oxygen as reactants, and produce water vapor as a primary by-product. The hydrogen can be provided directly, in the form of hydrogen gas, or can be produced from other materials, such as hydrocarbon liquids or gasses, which are reformed to isolate hydrogen gas. Fuel cell assemblies may include one or more fuel cells in a fuel cell housing that is coupled with a fuel canister containing the hydrogen and/or hydrocarbons. Fuel cell housings that are portable coupled with fuel canisters that are portable, replaceable, and/or refillable, compete with batteries as a preferred electricity source to power a wide array of portable consumer electronics products, such as cell phones and personal digital assistants. The competitiveness of these fuel cell assemblies when compared to batteries depends on a number of factors, including their size, efficiency, and reliability.
However, these factors are constrained by limitations in the art. For example, existing fabrication methods limit the number of fuel cell units that can be housed within a fuel cell housing of a given size. Additionally, each fuel cell in a housing includes a limited region in which it produces electricity, known as the active area of the fuel cell, and existing fabrication methods limit the active areas of each of the fuel cell units. Moreover, existing fabrication methods do not balance the design tradeoffs inherent to portable fuel cells. Certain fuel cells operate at extremely high temperatures, which thermally stresses fuel cell components and may disable the fuel cell. Existing devices do not adequately support the fuel cell components to withstand the stresses.
Thus, a need exists for fuel cell assemblies and fabrication methods that provide fuel cells which overcome limitations in the art.